Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Home

Cheese from Italy, Lombardy

Salva Cremasco PDOfurmac soc

Whole cow milk is set with liquid bovine rennet at 32–40 °C, broken twice to hazelnut-size grains without heating and moulded in square forms. The cheese is kept warm 8–16 hours to sour, salted dry or in brine, and ripened at least 75 days on wooden boards in rooms rich in moulds, where the rind is sponged with salt water and brushed.

Fully documentedCheese2.5 monthsPDO (EU), Reg. (EU) No 1377/2011Family: Washed-rind (smear-ripened) cheese family (Munster and Époisses as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNeither source gives doses. Cheeses are square blocks of 1.3–1.9 kg or 3–5 kg.
Whole cow milk from Frisona Italiana and Bruna Alpina cows of the areaThe 2011 single document names raw milk; the ONAF sheet also allows milk pasteurised at 71.7 °C for 15 seconds[salva-oj2011][salva-onaf]
Natural or selected starter made from native strains of the production area[salva-onaf]
Liquid bovine rennet only[salva-onaf]
Salt, dry or as brine[salva-onaf]
Starternatural or selected starter from native strains of the area

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.5 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
32–40 °C

What changes: Starter and liquid bovine rennet set the whole cow milk

Step 1 of 5
Set with bovine rennet
Time
10–20 min
Reported
Temperature
32–40 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Whole cow milk is set with liquid bovine rennet at 32–40 °C, broken twice to hazelnut-size grains without heating and moulded in square forms. The cheese is kept warm 8–16 hours to sour, salted dry or in brine, and ripened at least 75 days on wooden boards in rooms rich in moulds, where the rind is sponged with salt water and brushed. Made in 5 steps over 2.5 months. The longest step, ripen and sponge the rind, takes at least 2.5 months (European Commission 2011) and runs at 2–8 °C (ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters)). Native lactic starter, natural or selected from strains of the production area; no source names the species does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 2.5 monthsSet[salva-oj2011]Ripen and sponge the rind
Temperature2–8 °CReported[salva-onaf]Ripen and sponge the rind

What makes this one different

A soft washed-rind cheese ripened from the outside in, in square moulds. Mould from older cheeses in the ripening rooms seeds the younger ones, and the rind is sponged with salt water and brushed.

Ripening
At least 75 days
Size
Square block, sides 11–13 cm or 17–19 cm, heel 9–15 cm, 1.3–1.9 kg or 3–5 kg (± 10 %)
Composition
Fat in dry matter at least 48 %; dry extract more than 53 %

Related ferments

Safety

The 2011 EU single document names whole raw milk. The ONAF sheet lists the milk as whole, raw or pasteurised. Where milk is pasteurised, it gives 71.7 °C for 15 seconds or an equivalent. Products made from raw milk can expose people to germs such as Campylobacter, E. coli, Listeria, Brucella and Salmonella (CDC).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The name comes from the old practice of saving (salvare) surplus spring milk by making this cheese. The single document cites cheeses shown in 17th- and 18th-century frescoes. The name was entered in the EU register as a PDO by Regulation (EU) No 1377/2011 of 20 December 2011 [salva-reg2011].

  1. [salva-oj2011] European Commission 2011, Publication of an application pursuant to Article 6(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006, single document 'Salva Cremasco' PDO, OJ C 124, 27.4.2011, pp. 20–23 (Publications Office cellar copy)spec
  2. [salva-onaf] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Salva Cremasco'web
  3. [salva-reg2011] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1377/2011 of 20 December 2011 entering a name in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications [Salva Cremasco (PDO)], OJ L 343, 23.12.2011, p. 16spec
  4. [cdc-raw-milk] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Raw Milk (31 January 2025)gov